Commutator



Feb. 7,' 1928. 1,658,508

. W. M. ANDERSON COMMUTATOR Filed July 2, 1925 2-7 -5 Patented Feb. 7, 1928,,

WILLIAM Id. ANDERSON, OF MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA.

COMMUTATOR.

Applicati n filed July 2,

My present invention relates to ignition systems for internal combustion engines and more particularly to the commutatcrs therefor, whereby impr veoresults are obtaincc.

To the above end, generally statech the invention consists of the novel dev ces and combinations or devices herei i. t r de scribed and defined in the claims.

In the customary arrangement of ignition systems, the commutators ribute tne secondary impulses successively through the several secondary spark plug leads. lVhen the brush of a commutator is in actioin at high speed, there is a tendency to induce currents in the leads to the spark plugs and cylinders that are not in conditioi'i for firing. The tendency to induce currents in the spark plug lead just ahead oi that which is properly closed by the commutator and thus pro- 0 duce premature explosions is very great, but

there is also a similar tendency to luce e3;- plosions in the cylinders entirely out of time. Commntators of the type employing spaced contact points, usually set in an annular track, and having a yieldingly held brush usually provided with a roller, arranged to travel on the contact points and track, get out of orde very easily for the reason that they run dry or with very little oil thereby :10 causing said contact points and track to become rough, due to bur g caused by arcing and wear, which causes the roller to jump and pound thereby producing a very weak or a little spark while passing over a contact point and furthermore, this jumping of the roller causes excess arcing and wear. Often little oil does more harm tl an good tor the reason that the arcing burns the oil and metal to which it adheres and thereby terms l0 an accumulation of carbon which not only makes a poor contact but often short circuits one or more of the contacts, thus causing an irregular running of the engine.

To obviate these defects, I provide a commutator containing body of liquid of high electrical resistance such as non-carbonating oil in which the track, contact points and brush are either submerged or kept covered with the oil by splashing to prevent arcing so as the brush passesover the contact points as well as short circuiti-ng and burning of the contact points and brush. This body of oil causes the brush to travel on the contact points and the track smoothly and without as wear so that said brush will have constant engagement witlra contact point t roughout 1925. Serial NO. 41,080.

its entire lengtlnto produce a properly timed spark. it further object of the invention is to provide a commutator containing a bod ct oil and from which the oil will not leak out, and wherein a portion of the oil is used to lubricate the driving means for the brush, without the use of grease cups or oil holes. A further object 01 my invention is to provide a commutator in which the driving means for the brush does not haveto be packed to prevent leakage or the oil from the commutator. Said commutator is so arranged as to collect foreign matter in the bottom of its bowl and thusprevent thesame from coming in contact with its brush and contact points. A still further object of the invention is to provide a commutator that can be interposed in the standard ignition equipment of a Ford automobile without changing the wiring thereof and that will run on either a magneto or battery.

in the accompanying drawings, which illustrate the invention, like characters indicate like parts throughout the several views.

Peterring to the drawings: 1 is a view of the invention princiin central vertical section; ig. 2 is a plan View of the same with the er removed; ig. 8 is a fragmentary detail view showi the clip for securing the brush to the ve for rotation therewith; and

is a perspective view of the clip. The numeral 5 indicates a commutator bowl having a dome-like displaceable cover 6 held in position by a clamping ring 7 having an inturncd flange 8. This ring 7 has screw-threaded engagement with the bowl 5 and its flange 8 bears upon the beaded rim of the cover 6. To form an air and oil ti ht joint between the bowl 5 and its cover 6, there is laid in an annular channel in the rim or" said bowl a pliable packing 9 on which the rim of the cover 6 is pressed by the ring 7'.

An annular insulating track 10 of fibre or any other suitable material is tightly fitted against the inner wall of the bowl 5 and supported ona ledge 11 formed insaid wall. Four circumferentiallyspaced contact points 12 are laid in the internal surface of the track 10 and each thereof is. provided with a screw-threaded stem 13 which projects through aligned bores: in the. wall of the bowl 5 and the track 10 and has applied thereto an external locknut and a projects through the bowl 5.' By reference to Fig. 1, it will be noted that the track 10 and-contact points 12 are located midway between the top and bottom of the bowl 5.

Extending axially through the bottom of the bowl 5 is a tubular stem 17 having an annular external shoulder 18 which rests on the bottom of the bowl 5 and supports said stem with its upper end slightly above the rim of said bowl. A lock nut 19 has screwthreaded engagement with the stem 17 below the bowl 5, impinges against the bottom of said bowl and clamps the shoulder 18 onto the bottom of the bowl 5 and rigidly secures the hollow stem 17 axially located in respect to said bowl and annular track 10.

A driven shaft 20 extends axially through the tubular stem 17 and has a reduced upper end 21 which extends above said sleeve. A two-part sleeve 23 is telescoped onto the reduced upper end 21 of the driven shaft 20 and the tubular stem 17 with its lower end terminating just above the shoulder 18; The sleeve 23 is provided with an intera1 shoulder 24 which supports said sleeve from the upper ends of the driven shaft 20 and the tubular stem 17. The upper end portion 21 of the shaft 20 is radially split at 25 and a screw 26 has threaded engagement with said upper end portion 21 of the shaft 20 for expanding the same onto the internal wall of the sleeve 23 for frictionally clamping said sleeve for rotation with the driven shaft 20; This method of attaching the sleeve 23 in respect to the driven shaft 20 permits said sleeve to be circumferentially adjusted in respect to said driven shaft. A headed screw 27 has threaded engagement with the sleeve 23 above the upper end portion 21 of the driven shaft 20 and acts as a closure therefor for a purposewhich will 7 presently appear.

The bowl 5, as shown, is'supported from a bracket 28 secured to the housing of Ford timing gears by the tubular stem 17 the lower end of which rests on a bushing 29 set into said bracket. The driven shaft 20 is journaled in the bracket 28 and bushing 29 and has secured to its lower end a worm gear 30 which meshes with the worm 31 on the cam shaft 32 of Ford timing gears.

anchored to said hub and under strain to hold the roller 36 on said track and contact points.

movement thereon by means of a spring clip run freely in its bearings.

The hub is telescoped onto the sleeve 23 and held against circumferential 38 applied around said sleeve abovethe hub and having a depending linger 39 which extends into a notch 40 in the upper edge portion of said hub and an upwardly projecting finger 41 having on its upper end an inturncd lug 42 which extends into a not-ch in the upper edge of the sleeve and under the head of the closure screw 27.

In the bottom of the bowl 5 is a drain hole tt normally closed by a screw plug 15. The bowl 5 contains a body of oil X or other liquid of high electrical resistance. A dip per 16 is secured to the lower end portion of the sleeve 23. The sleeve 23 is provided with a shoulder at? on which the brush hub 35 rests. This shoulder i7 and the engagement of the lug 42 with the head of the closure screw 27 securely hold the hub against axial movement on the sleeve 23. interposed. between the tubular stem 17 within the bowl 5 and the sleeve 23 is a tubular wick Y for supplying oil to the upper end of the driven shaft 20 and which oil will follow down between said shaft and the hollow stem 17, bushing 29 and bracket 28 and keep said shaft properly lubricated without the use of grease cups or oil holes.

From the above description, it is evident that the body of oil X is of such depth as to keep the track 10, contacts 12, brush 33 sub mergedJ In case the oil X is below the track 10, the dipper 16, as the same is rotated by the sleeve 23,'will throw the .oil over the track 10, contact points 12 and brush 33 and keep said parts covered with oil, so that in effect the movable parts run in oil. Any foreign matter in the oil X or from the commutator will settle onto the bottom of the bowl 5 so that it does not come in contact with the movable parts of the commutator.

Obviously, the sleeve 23, which is closed at its u Jer end by the closure 27 arevents the splash of oil X from entering between the upper end of the tubular stem 17 and driven shaft 20, and after a certain amount of the oil has been used for the lubrication of the drivenshaft 20 and in case a small part thereof should work its way up between the hollow stem 17 and sleeve 23 and find its way out through said hollow stem, a vacuum will then be produced in the top of the cover 6 by the displacement of the oil X and thus prevent further escape of oil. As the top of the sleeve 23 is closed to the atmosphere, air can not enter the bowl 5 through the hollow stem 17 on account of the oil therein. By mounting a brush 33 on a driven shaft 20, as described, no packing is required for said shaft and hence the same is allowed to By loosening the screw 26, the sleeve 23 may be turned axially in respect to the driven shaft 20 to bring the roller 26 into proper timed relation with the 7 contact points 12.

Secured. to th bowl 5 is a adial 4:8

adapted to receive the standard pull rod connection, not shown, for a Ford commutator for the purpose of operating said commutator to advance or retard the spark.

What I claim is:

1. In a commutator, the combination with a bowl containing a body of liquid of high electrical resistance, of a hollow stein in the bowl, a driven shaft in the stem, a sleeve telescoped onto the stem and secured to the shaft for rotation therewith, a contact in the bowl, and a brush secured to the sleeve for rotation therewith and cooperation with said contact.

2. The structure defined in claim 1 in which said brush may be circumferentially adjusted in respect to the shaft for timed relation to the contact.

3. The structure defined in claim 1 in which said stem extends above the top of the bowl.

4. The structure defined in claim I in further combination with a wick interposed between the stern and sleeve for (.onveyin oil from the bowl to the shaft within the stem.

5. In a commutator, the combination with abowl containing a body of liquid of high electrical resistance, of a hollow stem in the bowl, a driven shaft in the stem, a sleeve telescoped onto the stem, means for securing the sleeve to the shaft in different circumferential adjustments in respect thereto, a contact in the bowl, a brush cooperating with the contact and having a hub mounted on the sleeve, and a clip applied to the sleeve and having interlocking engagement with the hub to secure the same to the sleeve for rotation therewith.

6. In a commutator, the combination with a closed bowl, of an upstanding hollow stem in the bowl, a driven shaft journaled to said stem, a sleeve applied to the driven shaft above the hollow stem and telescoped onto said stein, means for securing the sleeve to the driven shaft in differentcircumferen tial adjustments, a closure for the sleeve above the driven shaft, a track in the bowl and having circumferentially spaced contact points, a brush having a hub secures to the sleeve and a roller arranged to run on the track, said. bowl containing a body of liquid of high electrical resistance, and a clip applied to the sleeve and having interlocking engagements with the sleeve and the hub of the brush to secure said brush against circumferential movement on the sleeve.

7. In a commutator, the combination with a closed bowl, of a hollow stem extending axially upward into the bowl through the bottom thereof, a driven shaft journaled i the hollow stein, a sleeve applied to said shaft above the hollow stem and telescoped onto said stein, said shaft having a split upper end, a screw having threaded engage ment with the split upper end of the shaft for expanding and frictioually clamping the same onto the sleeve in different circumferential adjustments, a closure for the sleeve above the driven shaft, circumferentially spaced contact points in the bowl. and a brush secured to the sleeve for co-operation with the contact points, said bowl containing a body of liquid of high electrical re- 1 sistance.

8. In a commutator, the combination with a closed bowl, of a hollow stein extending axially upward into the bowl through the bottom thereof, a driven shaft journaled in the hollow stem, a sleeve applied to said shaft above the hollow stem and telescoped onto said stem, said shaft having a split upper end, a screw having threaded engagement with the split upper end of the shaft for expanding and frictionally clamping the same onto the sleeve in different circumferential adjustments, a closure for the sleeve above the driven shaft, circumferentia ly spaced contact points in the bowl, a brush secured to the sleeve for co-operation with the contact points, said bowl containing a body of oil, and a cylindrical wick interposed between the hollow stem and sleeve for oiling; saidshaft in the hollow stem from the body of oil in the bowl.

9. In a commutator, the combination with a bowl having in its rim and annular channel, a. packing in said channel, a displacea-ble cover for the bowl, the rim of which is seated on the packing, and a clamping ring having screw-threaded engagemcn with the bowl and engageable with the cover to draw the same onto the packing, of a hollow stem extendingaxially upward into the bowl through the bottom thereof, a driven shaftjournalec in the hollow stein, spaced contact points in the bowl, and a brush secured to said shaft for co-operation with the contact points, said bowl containing a body of liquid of high electrical resistance.

In testimony whereof I aiiix my WILLIAM Iv nature.

ANDERSON. 

